


I've Got Thick Skin (And An Elastic Heart)

by Mauisse_Flowers



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Mummy Series, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Big Brother Thor, Clint Barton is Darcy's Unofficially Adopted Brother, Darcy Lewis is Anck Su Namun, Darcy Su Namun, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, F/M, Food, Gen, Jane Can Cook, Jane Knows How To Do More than Just Science, Minor Jane Foster/Thor, Minor Natasha Romanova/Sam Wilson, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Miut the Cat, Natasha is Darcy's Unofficially Adopted Sister, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Smut, Thor Is Not Stupid, Tony Has His Food Priorities Straight, Tut the Dog, Weird Ancient Egyptian Mummy Courting, once you write smut for this pairing there's no going back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:31:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6909424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauisse_Flowers/pseuds/Mauisse_Flowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b><br/></b><br/><em>A shiver ran down Darcy’s back suddenly, and she lifted her head. She knew that feeling. She’d known it in several lives, and it didn’t always instill fear in her. Jane noticed right away, worry creasing the elder woman’s soft face.</em><br/> </p><p>  <b><br/></b><br/><em>“Darcy?”</em><br/> </p><p>  <b><br/></b><br/><em>“He’s here.” She said, swallowing thickly.</em><br/> </p><p>The One Where Darcy is Anck Su Namun and she isn't dealing with Imhotep's shit right now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Want My Life So Bad

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Go on till you come to the end: then stop.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6482833) by [amusewithaview](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusewithaview/pseuds/amusewithaview). 



Darcy stirred the thick pan of kushari, the heady smell of onions, garlic, and red wine vinegar filling the small kitchenette with vague hints of chicken and black pepper. In the main area of the top floor of Avengers Tower, the Avengers were sat around a coffee table, a few boxes of Cards Against Humanity opened. She was grinning into the pan as she listened to boos and "wait, can Cap even say that?" Jane was next to her, trying to not get too distracted by the current equation she was working on for her next attempt at the Einstein-Rosen Bridge (the first worked wonderfully. For two minutes) as she worked on a fresh loaf of bread to go with the dish.

Thor, deciding to not part-take in Cards Against Humanity ("Another round, friends! I wish to help in the making of pink lemonade! It is a very serious business!" It may have gotten snickers, but that's why he said it. Darcy, Jane, and Erik knew better by now.) was putting together the pink lemonade and a pot of tea for everyone. Thor was luckily now just waiting for the tea to steep, stirring in the sugar to the lemonade and tasting from time to time (with a taste from Jane and Darcy due to Thor liking his sugar a whole lot more than everyone else). As the trio cooked, he regaled the two women with a story from when he was a child and Loki and he had gotten chased by a pack of bilgesnipe, a story even he was paying half-attention to.

A shiver ran down Darcy's back suddenly, and she lifted her head. She knew that feeling. She'd known it in several lives, and it didn't always instill fear in her. Jane noticed right away, worry creasing the elder woman's soft face.

"Darcy?"

"He's here." She said, swallowing thickly.

When was the last time she'd seen him? Was it back in the forties, with the O'Connell's and their little son? When her mind was muddled and wrong and a mix of her and another woman, a creature she had long since ceased to be? Or was it after, when Shai decided to give him the fate she was dealt. She wasn't sure, for she had relived far too many lives between then and their first meeting and now to know anymore. Egypt did not believe in rebirth, not fully, but she did. Anubis and Ra had given her these lives with purpose.

"He? He who?" Steve asked, hearing the damp panic in Darcy's voice. She startles, looking over the counter into the living room where he was setting down his cards, staring back at her.

Oh, that's right. She'd never told the others. Only Jane and Thor after the Dark Elves. The rest would… likely judge her, or hate her, or try to send her back to the Underworld. The first two she could deal with, but the third was not an option in any life. She would not kill to stop it, but there were other extreme measures she could take.

"Darcy, is it him?" Jane asks, resting a hand of her friend's shoulder. Wide blue eyes turn to the astrophysicist. "Oh shit."

"Guys, what's going on?" Clint asks, confused by how tense the three had become. He was feeling on edge too. "Who's him? Some crazy ex I need to deal with?"

Anubis bless Clint with passage into the afterlife. He had taken to Darcy as a brother and she doubted he'd hate her should he known about her pasts. But she couldn't tell him because while he may not doubt her, Natasha would. And Natasha would inform Steve who in turn would tell Tony, Bucky, and Sam about her. Then it would spread and everyone connected to them would know, and she would be forced to run away.

"No one," Darcy shook her head, knowing her voice quivered as she did not want it to. "Someone from before all this."

Clint's shoulders eased a little, eyes still hard. He knew she wasn't lying, but was still scared, and that didn't sit well with him. "Darce, c'mon, you can trust us."

Darcy thought, _yes, yes I do trust you, but you do not know who I was and you do not know this man and his terrible powers like I_. And she was silent. Jane placed a hand on her shoulder, silently asking she give the others a chance. Darcy looked at Jane with big eyes, and sighed softly.

"He is… something like an ex-boyfriend. As far as you would call him, anyway. To me, he was my… consort."

"Like a king's side woman?"

Darcy winces. "Yes. So to speak."

"Wait," Tony speaks up, "to have a consort you've gotta be royalty." He narrows his eyes at Darcy. "Is there some _Prince and I_ shit that you pulled on us, Short stack? Are you a Danish princess who's running from her small town, farmer's son lover instead of the other way around?"

"No! Ra, no," oops, oh well, "and Tony, lay off the Julia Stiles movies. Pepper already confiscated Netflix from you."

"And I'll confiscate his credit card next," Pepper said from beside him as he beamed impishly at the redhead beauty. "He's been buying them and Freddie Prince Jr. movies lately."

"Oh god," Darcy groaned, and Thor laughed at everyone's horrified looks. "I don't want another Scooby-Doo marathon."

Tony pouted, and Natasha, curled against Sam with her cards tucked into her bra for the moment, stared at Darcy unwaveringly, not deterred by the switch in conversation. Sam didn't even try to hide his hand from Natasha, knowing she already knew the moment the cards entered his hands. He also hasn't looked away from Darcy, worry in his eyes.

"So if he was your consort, how are you not a princess or queen or something of the like?" Bucky asked. "That doesn't make sense, doll."

Darcy turns back to the kushari, turning the heat down, knowing she was about to tell a long story. At least everyone that mattered an extreme amount to her was present, not including the Twins and Vision who'd run off for the weekend. Jane stayed with her, and Thor a few steps behind.

"Well, first, I should tell you about my past. And by past, I mean my first life." She grabs a stool, sitting on it. Her arms cross on the countertop, running her hands up and down phantom gold and ink marks. "Once, my name was Anck-su-namun, and I myself was Pharaoh Seti I's consort. I was to become his wife though, and thus queen, so my status had changed. Not willingly, I might add, but it was better than death. My ex-boyfriend, who's name I won't say for fear of bringing him, via speak of the devil, was Seti's high priest, which is already bad, but we . . . We slept together, among other things. We were in love, and I wasn't young or stupid."

Darcy takes a moment, thinking on her words as Jane takes a hand so she'd stop scratching at invisible ink. And she tells them in depth her relationship with Seti, her consort, Nefertiri, and others at the palace. Darcy explains her death in agonizing detail and how little she regretted killing the man who ruined her first life, who just took and took from her and expected her to love him and protect him, His attempt to bring her back, the rebirths and deaths spent alone and atoning for her mistakes that first life. Her run-ins with Nefertiri and the Medjai and her attempts to flee and just live, ultimately sent back to the Underworld for her misdeed.

Jane stops her as she begins to recount His resurrection, and Him once again attempting to bring her back. She decides it's best to tell her friends and family, knowing they'd know eventually. "He failed though, and I'm glad He did. After we killed Seti, I realized that. . . That maybe it was best that we didn't meet again, that we weren't together. I think that, if I was reborn in my own body and not shoved into a mummy for those short moments, I might have liked Evie O'Connell."

"What do you mean?" Jane asks, and Darcy has never told her this. How muddled your mind becomes when it's forcefully brought back from death, after your body has grown cold and stiff, how all your worst emotions can magnify and make you the worst creature on earth. "When you die, doctors can bring you back, but only in a certain window of time. After that, they quit. I've found that when you're forced to come back from death everything is wrong, including you. _Especially_ you, actually. And the longer you're in the body, the worse off you are. Case in point when I got a doppelgänger and she became obsessed with Him, and me, and becoming me."

She recalls the life before it, as a nurse in the First World War, and her dying on the battle field helping soldiers get to medical vans. Not the worst or best way to die, and she doesn't tell any of them that. Then she reveals the story as she knows it, and listens to the horrified gasp from Pepper when Darcy explains what the woman willingly did. And how she not only came back, but shared a body and mind with the other woman, and fought for control but ended up losing. Too confused and weak to fight back, Him too content thinking he got his lover back to notice.

"I suppose I am a monster," she says after, thinking of her denying Him and running and falling and the scarabs. It's a pitiful form of justice, one that was petty but valid with what she had, though not in right mind, allowed to happen. "But I've come to realize that things I did in those three lives were orchestrated. In a way."

"Oh?" Natasha had been silent through it, tensed half of it, but something in her had eased with the way she mentioned the other lives she lived, the sound of terror and horror in her voice when talking about the things she did and almost did. "And why is that?"

"Because Shai's a bitch. I shouldn't call the god of fate and destiny such because he could have this tower crumble down on us, but he is. Anubis tried to help me, I suppose. I don't remember meeting him much, just the journey and me being plucked off the path before I could reach the Scales."

Darcy shivers again, feeling Him closer. Closer to the Tower, to her friends, to her family, to _h_ _er_. Her fingers shake against the counter, no one missing it.

"You should all leave," she says suddenly, standing. Thor's hand is half risen to summon Mjolnir, but she places a calming hand on his wrist.

" **Thor, you know better than I that hammer will do nothing to stop Him. It'll only make Him more angry.** " She says as gently as possible in Ancient Egyptian. Jane understood possibly half of what she'd said, Darcy teaching Jane some of the ancient language after revealing herself. " **Please, take Jane and Erik and the others to safety.** "

"Forgive me, lightening sister, but I cannot." Thor smiled at her, not bothering to speak the same tongue as she. "And I do not think the others would agree to leaving you in such a monster's hands."

Darcy wanted to say He wasn't a monster. Just wayward. But in every life she'd met Him in He'd done terrible things, killed people, and most in her name. It was terrible, He was terrible, and so was she no matter how much she hid.

"Then stay behind me. He won't attack you if you are not what He sees first." Darcy says to the entire collective. "I'd rather you all leave but you're as stubborn as I am." She smirks at that, a twist to her mouth that doesn't belong on such a face, a smirk that belonged to another many a life time ago. "Which is saying something."

"I'm not hiding," Jane huffs, taking Darcy's hand. "I trust you too much to hide like a toddler. You're a sister to me too."

"Jane," Darcy feels her throat constrict. "Oh, Jane, I love you so much."

Darcy turns off the stove completely, knowing it will ruin the dish she'd been craving all week. She turned off the oven that had been beeping for a steady minute, taking out the bread (it luckily didn't smell burnt, and didn't look it either).

"Let's have dinner, instead." Tony jumped up off the couch, Pepper looking at him like he's lost his mind. They all were. "What?"

"Darcy reveals she's a reincarnated Egyptian queen who has a suitor who cans turn into sand and has all mighty powers and your concern is dinner?" Clint deadpanned.

"Hey, you shouldn't fight or argue on an empty stomach," Tony shrugs. "How's that koshary looking, Darce?"

"It's kushari, and it was almost done…" Darcy watches him, perplexed.

"Finish it." he smiles at her. "Willingly or not, your family, Lewis. No matter what fucked up shit you did five, ten, or a billion lifetimes ago. Deal with it."

"He's right, Сестра," Natasha stretched like a lazy cat right then, easing any lasting tension from her body. Sam watched her, and his eyes looked droopy watching her relax. "You're stuck with us, like it or no."

Darcy grinned at them. "Then someone set the table. And add an extra place."

Darcy finished up the kushari, and Jane cut the loaf of bread as Thor took the pot of tea and pitcher of pink lemonade to the table. Then the two brought out the meal and set down to eat. Darcy didn't comment on how she was sat at one end across from Natasha, the seat next to the young intern empty as Jane and Thor took the other side.

FRIDAY let out an alert, malfunctioning as she claimed sand was clogging the ducts and speakers. Darcy shivered and Jane grabbed her hand that wasn't holding a shaking spoon of garlic and lentil and onion.

The elevator slid open, pushed there by sun-kissed fingers. Darcy stared at the man, not knowing the face but who wore it well enough. He surveyed the table of eating heroes, most of whom had stopped to stare, the others looking to Darcy to see her reaction.

" **Anck-su-namun.** "

Her back straightened. She remembered that voice. The gentle caress of it against her painted cheek, and warm, calloused fingers fanning down a cold arm, hopeful eyes burning into shriveled skin, the careful burn of lips at a reunion she hadn't desired. She remembered the want and longing behind her name, the desire and devotion and His willingness to do anything for her, even die in an attempt at bringing her back.

Darcy set her spoon down, trying to still her shaking hands. Jane's grip tightened, a fragile touch of Darcy's fingers to Jane's made the astrophysicist let go, staring after with lung-constricting worry.

Darcy stood, facing him. " **Do not touch these people and I will listen to you. But if you lay so much as a grain of sand on any of them, I will find a way to kill you myself. And it will hurt** **.** "

Darcy isn't in the business of making threats. She declares her intent and goes for it, like when choosing to intern for Jane, or setting out to get Erik from the mental institute, or declaring she was no longer Seti's little doll to be spilled into night after night. Threats were typically meaningless, but she loved these people dearly and would not hesitate to send Him to hell forever, going with if it made Him stay there and saved her family.

" **You're different.** " He says it casually. Like talking about the weather. " **You are no longer self-serving.** "

" **I wasn't to begin with. Forced reanimation messes up a few brain cells.** " Darcy dryly counters. She motions to the table, and speaks in English, knowing He understands her and Darcy wants everyone to hear this ultimatum. "Sit. Eat. We'll talk after. Or you can go and never come back. You don't have any other option, because I won't allow other options."

He smirks, something predatory flashing in His gaze. She doesn't know if the others see it, but she does. It's unsettling in the kind of way she once liked.

"I will stay on one condition." Ice coats her spine, her skin pebbles at His gently accented English. She sees the glint of knife then, so long ago she would have thought it a distant memory. It's hidden in the dark fall of His robes as she runs a gold-dusted hand inches from His face, whispering her own devotion.

She doesn’t hesitate with her question, "What is it?"

"You say my name. You say it, and I will do whatever you command, **my lover.** "

She imagines how she took the knife from His belt as they kissed and His hand smeared the gold and ink along her arm and sealed her– _their_ – fates to this cycle of death and rebirth. How the knife felt sticking into not one but two bodies, and she feels the phantom pain that second kill forever leaves her with, always unable to bear children from the tilt of the knife as in sunk into tender flesh and hot blood.

She swallows, can feel Jane already rising to tell Him to back the fuck off, but a raised hand from Darcy and Thor's gentle but insistent grip pushing her down quiets Jane. Momentarily. Amusement glints in the man's dark eyes, and she hates the feeling it leaves her with.

"Would you be so kind as to dine with us. . ." She swallows, closing her eyes for a moment. She can imagine Him asking her to open her eyes, to let Hjm see the way her eyes look when she utters His name, so she opens them. "Imhotep?"

He grins, all teeth. Darcy thinks of a cat who ate a bird, a feather or two sticking to His maw. Or maybe a fox with a skittish, wounded chicken, panting as it bled to death under its sadistic claws.

He makes His way over, taking the seat by hers, next to Steve who's eyes glint with apprehension. Steve never did like bullies, even ones who weren't aware they bullied.

" **Gladly, my lover.** "

Darcy would tell Imhotep not to call her that if she didn't already know the game he was going to make her play with the near loving smile he sent her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WONDER WHAT THE TAGS WERE. LET'S SEE:  
> #DARCY LEWIS  
> #DARCY-SU-NAMUN  
> #DARCY X IMHOTEP  
> #THE MUMMY X-OVER  
> #MCU X-OVER  
> #THE MUMMY  
> #IIIIIIIIII MESS WITH CANON ALOT  
> #I HAVE A LOT OF IDEAS ABOUT REANIMATING A CORPSE WITHOUT A DEATH GOD'S TOUCH OKAY  
> #AND I'M USING THEM  
> #I BLAME AMUSE #AMUSEWITHAVIEW  
> #TONY HAS HIS PRIORITIES STRAIGHT  
> #UNLIKE THE REST OF US  
> #FOOD FIRST  
> #TALK LATER  
> #AND YES JUST LIKE AMUSE I HAVE RAMI CAST AS IMHOTEP  
> #LETS MAKE IT A TREND  
> #I FEEL LIKE IMHOTEP HAS A PRAISE KINK OR SOMETHING LIKE IT  
> #AND MAYBE A SADISM STREAK BCS HE'D TOTALLY BE A DOM UNLESS A CERTAIN SOMEONE ORDERED HIM TO PLAY SUB  
> #WHOOPS  
> #THESE TAGS GOT GRAPHIC  
> #IGNORE THESE  
> #LOOK AWAY  
> #MAUISSE WRITES  
> #I AM TRASH  
> #EVIE STILL LOOKS LIKE EVIE BECAUSE RACHEL WEISZ AS EVIE ALWAYS  
> #MY IDEA IS THE HOM-DAI HAS THE MEDJAI ALWAYS WATCHING THE BODY BUT HAS TO HAVE A SOUL DOING IT TOO  
> #SO NEFERTIRI GETS REINCARNATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN  
> #IN THE SAME BODY  
> #WHICH IS WHY HER BEING BROUGHT BACK DIDNT FUCK HER UP LIKE IT DID ANCK


	2. I Know That I Can Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A direct follow-up to the previous chapter.

Dinner was semi-quiet. Conversation had picked back up but the whole time Imhotep had watched only her, eyes burning against her skin, as though trying to sear this form of her into his memory. She, for the most part, had ignored him. Him and the hand that brushed her knuckles when she dipped her spoon for another bite of her favorite dish. When his touch, like a hot coal, touched her Darcy never flinched, acting like it never happened, and would keep up with Jane's explanation of what she'd figured out so far went wrong with her first Bridge.

Sam and Natasha and Clint took clean up duty, Jane and Thor taking up Sam and Clint's set of cards. Jane had turned to Darcy, eyes flickering to the surprisingly patient reincarnated mummy before falling of her friend, nodding to Natasha's abandoned set of cards. Her doe eyes had held hope Darcy would send him away then join in with everyone. They were all tensed, unsure of Imhotep but knowing what Darcy had told them and unable to process this version.

Jane was met with a shaking head, and she looked at Thor who had watched. His expression was pensive, settled on his little lightening sister and the monster after her heart. He nodded at Darcy and she turned on heel, leaving the room with Imhotep behind her.

 

"FRIDAY, Thor's floor, please."

"Of course, Miss Lewis."

The elevator moved down. Darcy stared at the numbers as they went down, feeling something akin to agitation filling her. She wanted to hate Imhotep so much, and she had it in her to do so if he ever looked at any of her friends threateningly. She bet her soul he knew that too and it was why he hadn't. Yet.

Darcy also felt an emotion a lot like longing hit her too, which was infinitely worse to her and made the agitation multiply. She didn't want to miss him, Darcy wanted to hate and despise him. It was hard to do when he'd never once raised a hand against her like other men had in her many lifetimes, and had not only never raised a hand but worshiped the ground she walked on, even in death. No one ever had, even now with all these friends who made her feel deliciously normal and wonderfully human.

The elevator stopped and slide open, and Darcy nearly runs off it. Imhotep reaches out, for her wrist or hand she didn't know, just that he wasn't touching her. She spun around, blue eyes blazing with something.

Darcy pushed Imhotep back with a near snarl. She's shaking, with what emotion she isn't sure due to the maelstrom she carries inside. " **No! You can't just show up and expect me to fall in love with you. That is not how this works, Imhotep. I have grown, I have _changed_. I've lived far too many lifetimes without you to need you anymore, because that despairing wife is no longer me.** "

" **And yet you did not run when you realized I was close** ," he replies calmly, stepping into her space, undeterred by her violent show of rejection. She does not flinch from him, or look away, or show any sign of fear, so he does not back away. Imhotep refuses to back away from her, from this natural thing that they are. " **You did not take the little scientist you have laid claim as yours and run, like a startled field mouse. What am I to think if you did not leave and instead simply sat with friends, eating dinner and waiting for me?** "

He reaches out, fingers extended in a display of gentleness, meaning to graze her cheek, and Darcy finally turns her head away. It is quick, thick, wavy dark hair sliding over pale shoulders to make a curtain, cutting him off from her. It stings more than Imhotep would like to admit, possibly more than when she left him to fall. His hand drops back to his side, fingers flexing before clenching into a tight fist. Anger stirs low in his stomach, but not at her. Never at her.

" **I wanted to leave, or I at least wanted them all to leave and me to face you alone. But . . .** " There is a fond quirk to Darcy's pretty red lips that makes jealousy burn deep in his bones. " **Jane is more stubborn than me.** **All of them are.** "

" **You have me alone now.** " he murmurs, voice growing softer as she seems to relax the more she talks of her friends. " **I am at your mercy.** "

Darcy tenses, shoulders growing taunt. He scowls at his mistake, and her eyes grow bigger.

" **I am not angry at you, my lover,** " he reassures Darcy, and she stares at him with furrowed brows.

" **Why aren't you trying to kill me for what I did? I wasn't in my right mind but that doesn't matter. I left you to die.** " She suddenly asks, changing the direction of their conversation completely.

" **I love you too much to hate you for any decisions you make in order to save yourself. For a while I held some anger towards you, but have sense let it go.** " Imhotep smirks slightly. " **You are too much of my everything.** "

Darcy closes her eyes, hating the way Imhotep says she is his and the fact her agitation is soothed by his words. She thinks back on what he's done to plant himself here, and what she's done to lead up to this, to bring back some of the negative emotions she felt. They seem to fall flat when careful fingers touch her chin, tilting her head up. Darcy does not try to pull away, but she knows she's shaking again from how weak her legs suddenly feel.

Her lips part, sucking in a quivering breath and releasing it slowly before she opens her eyes. She's startled by how green his eyes are, used to brown being apart of her unending, neatly compacted memory for so long. The adoration is not new to her, however, and she feels the knee jerk reaction to look away. She hasn't been so intimate with another since she was yanked back to this plane by him decades ago and even then it wasn't truly her, wasn't her leaning in for kisses and staring with awe into his eyes.

She takes a large step back before he can lean down more than a few centimeters, not nearly enough to come close to kissing her. Her arms wrap around her as she turns completely from him, heading into the living room, and she wishes she wore a large sweater instead of the tank top and vest she had on.

" **I will not have a repeat of our past, Imhotep.** " Darcy dismisses him, " **I have moved on. Please, try to do the same.** "

She shivers when the temperature drops, skin raising with goose flesh as it had done not even an hour before. Her fingers dig into her arms, knowing she'd risen his anger again.

" **I'm sorry that I do not believe you, Darcy,** " Imhotep says, voice chilly. " **With how you react to me,** " she yelps when strong arms encase her, pulling her into a warm chest, " **I am inclined to call you a liar.** "

She wants to yell at him, turning half way in his arms to do so before a nose runs along her neck. Darcy stills, teeth digging into her bottom lip, eyes clenching closed. He does not kiss her neck or attempt to kiss her lips. Imhotep's warm, smooth lips rest just behind her ear as he says, with a finality that leaves her breathless, " **I once told you our souls were mated, our fates entwined, our love eternal, and I intend to follow through. I am many things but not a liar, Darcy Lewis.** "

Imhotep's arms fall away. Darcy spins quick, eyes taking in the area but not finding a single trace of him. She shakes so hard her knees give out, clenched hands pressing into the floor.

Oddly enough, Darcy doesn't feel trapped or threatened by his declaration. She feels, insane as it sounds, free. But from what, she isn't sure. Darcy doesn't want to know what either.

If she starts laughing and crying, well, it _had_ been a stressful evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #DARCY LEWIS  
> #DARCY SU NAMUN  
> #DARCY X IMHOTEP  
> #IMHOTEP  
> #THE MUMMY X-OVER  
> #MCU X-OVER  
> #FUUUUUUUUUUCK  
> #AND YOU GUYS KNOW IMHOTEP STARTS SOME WEIRD AF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMY COURTING THING AND DARCY  
> #DARCY IS JUST LET ME BE DAMMIT I DONT WANT THESE FEELINGS OKAY  
> #THEY ARE BAD FOR ME AND YOU AND ALL THOSE INVOVLED NO GO AWAY YOU IDIOT  
> #AND IMHOTEP IS NOTHING IF NOT STUBBORN AF SO HE REFUSES  
> #AND HE HATES CATS YEAH BUT THEY DONT SEEM TO HATE HIM NOW SO HE BUYS HER ONE  
> #WITHOUT REALIZING SHE'S ALLERGIC #AND SHES ANGRY BCS SHE LOVES CATS BUT CANT HAVE ANY AND SNEEZING DOES NO ONE GOOD IN A LAB  
> #AND THEN THERES THE FACT DARCY IS IN FACT OF JEWISH DESCENT AND SOME OF HIS COMMENTS GET HER RILED  
> #BCS DARCY CAN NOT BE REBORN AS MANY TIMES AS SHE HAS BEEN AND NOT LIVED ON NEARLY EVERY TIER OF SOCIETY IN MANY DIFFERENT RELIGIONS  
> #SO SHE'S VERY FUCKING PROTECTIVE OF PEOPLE'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS  
> #PARTICULARLY THOSE SHE HAPPENS TO HAVE ONCE TREATED LIKE SHIT (CHANNEL WEISS SCHNEE ONCE SHE'S REACHED ULTIMATE NO LONGER A SHIT RACIST)OUAT  
> #I ALSO FEEL THERES GONNA BE A BIT OF MY FRIENDS MUST APPROVE OF YOU B4 THIS GOES PLACES AFTER  
> #AND THEY'RE ALL WE'VE HAS A BET POOL GOING SINCE HIS SANDY ASS CAME UP THE ELEVATOR  
> #WHICH IMHOTEP KNEW ALL ABOUT THE SHITHEAD  
> #AND THEYRE IS VV PASSIONTE SEXY TIMES  
> #YES THERE IS  
> #BEFORE SHIT HAPPENS AND THE MEDJAI HAPPEN AND EVIE AND RICK HAPPEN  
> #WHICH IS NOT OKAY  
> #MAUISSE WRITES  
> #MAUISSE RAMBLES  
> #MAUISSE REALLY RAMBLED THIS TIME HOLY SHIT  
> #OH AND WHY IS EVERYONE SO CALM????  
> #BCS CALM THOR AND JANE MEANS THIS IS SAFE


	3. What's New Pussy-Cat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes I went there with the title. I also lied. I am doing Weird Ancient Egyptian Mummy Courting. Whoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a playlist now (you can look at my others if you want): https://open.spotify.com/user/mcculloghh/playlist/5qIUxNEi9E9WNXXTQ3r9Yp

It starts with a cat. Much like how they first met, so many lives ago.  
Imhotep was not fond of the children of Bastet, those who were sent out as protectors by the god Osiris's sister and wife, Isis. Likely because they, for whatever reason, had never been fond of him. Even as a child with his little wooden horse and papyrus dolls, intent on friendship and not murdering Pharaohs or defiling of holy texts.

In his following life, cats not only hated him but scared him and his weak abilities. If he'd met one when Meena had awakened him, they likely would have left similar reactions. This life however . . .

Imhotep stares at the pen of kittens with hard-to-conceal distain as they rolled around, mewing for food and warmth. Memories of sharp claws in tender child-flesh and teeth ripping through baby fingers spring fresh to mind. He may have been less cautious as a child, but Imhotep had known how to treat a cat properly. The betrayal of such a loving pair of goddesses, meant to be the epitome of motherhood and a mother's protection, stings still.

One kitten in particular mews loudest, staring at him– not the oohing children and aahing teens– with luminescent blue eyes surrounded by poofy fur. It is a mottle of white, black, and orange, a type of cat many called a tortoiseshell. He stares back for a minute or two before moving to get a worker's attention, pointing out the young animal.

"That one," he says, pointing to the cat. The young woman, a plump blonde by the name of Hayley– if her name tag it to be believed– rose a brow as she ushers away the kids and reaches in for the young feline. "I am getting it for my beloved. She likes cats."

His hands go back to his pockets. If Imhotep has to hold the cat it will likely end in someone's death, and it will not be his. He'd rather not have a mob come after him for the murder of a child of Bastet, which would then result in more death and angering Darcy.

"Well, this little girl hasn't been all that fond of people. Spitting and hissing at everyone," Hayley says as the feline wiggles and yowls in her gentle hands. "So the fact she likes you is reassuring."

Imhotep's visage doesn't change. The cat would likely turn on him soon as he touched it.

"Have any name ideas?" Hayley asks, wincing when a claw digs into her hand.

"I was going to leave that up to my beloved." He replies.

"Would you hold her?" Hayley asks, clearly distressed. Imhotep tenses. She continues to babble, which is aggravating on its own. "It's just for a moment. I need to go get a cage and ring her up and–"

"Very well." He grits out to make her hush.

He dearly hopes the cat doesn't get its neck snapped. He sincerely does not like them.

The blonde shoves the cat into his hands, and immediately it begins to purr. It is alarming.

"Thanks!" Hayley bustles off to get everything she'd started to list. He follows, watching as she cleans her marred hands and wrists with sanitizer (wincing as she lathers it in, to his pleasure).

She collects all the items she'd spoken of, and shows him cat toys and food and other little things needed for modern care of cats. The entire time the kitten purrs and mews, keeping him on edge the entire time as the feline is intent on getting to his shoulders.

Imhotep doesn't bat an eye at the price, pulling out his wallet and pulling out crisp bills that he passes over. Hayley doesn't think twice about checking the twenties, and it is a fight to get the cat in the carrier. A little sprinkle of catnip inside had the kitten following orders, rolling in the shredded stuff.

He thanks Hayley as is custom of modern times and leaves, set on returning to Stark Tower where Darcy and her little scientist lives. The doorman does not try to stop him, knowing better by now, and he steps into the elevator. The AI sends him to the labs at his demand.

He has not seen Darcy in two days, and is anxious to see her once more. He knows very well that she can take care of herself, has seen it first hand, but he wishes to be with her right then, to shower her in affection. He wants to see her face light up when he reveals the kitten to her, watch her coddle it and name the animal and thank him.

Her happiness lights up his otherwise boring, mundane life. It's all he wants and bringing her this kitten will bring her some happiness from him, _only him_ , and not the others she associates with now.

The doors to the labs open, and he steps off.

" **My Lover** ," he says warmly upon seeing her, reading science scribbles from her Jane and typing them onto the computer.

Darcy stiffens, closing her eyes and letting out a breath. She'd clearly been too wrapped up in her work to have noticed his arrival. No matter, Imhotep had brought a gift and that's all that mattered. She turned to him, expression guarded, and even her Jane, mind and body and soul focused into her work, stops briefly to eye them and the carrier he holds.

" **Hello, Inhotep.** " Darcy says. She isn't cautious or pleased, she simply watches him, waiting to see how he reacts to see how she must act.

" **I have come with a gift, Darcy** ," he replies, pleased, though slightly ruffled she's yet to act with an emotion that wouldn't be classified negative or neutral yet. It's a slow process, but she will give into him again. One day.

Her pretty eyebrows raise, intrigued. " **Oh?** "

" **Yes.** " He moved closer, slow so as not to jostle and agitate the kitten. Darcy sneezes suddenly, and Jane says, "Bless you."

Darcy keeps sneezing, and Imhotep sets down the cage and comes close with mounting worry. Jane beats him to it, and he goes still, glaring at the back of the tiny woman's head.

"Hey, Darce, breath okay? Just breath," Jane assures her best friend.

"I'm trying." Darcy's nose and eyes are red and she sneezes every few breaths. "I'm only like this when cats are nearby, so I don't . . . know . . . oh, Imhotep, you didn't."

He stares at her, surprised by her words. She was unable to be around cats? She adored them! She still does if the cat sweater and beanies she wears frequently is any indication

With how sadly she looks at him, he believes her. Her eyes convey disappointment, but it is not disappointment in him. It is in the situation and how it turned out. She refuses to accept her feelings, but the fact she can feel such an emotion and have it not pointed at him speaks volumes.

" **Forgive me, My Love** r," he says, and moves to pick up the carrier.

He's at the door, and Jane has gotten Darcy's inhaler, and Darch calls after him, voice reedy, " **You did not know I was allergic**." He stops, turned halfway to see her. She watches him with tight, sad eyes. " **I do not tell many. It is a curse I must carry with these memories of other lives. I cannot be around cats. No matter what type. Sometimes it does not develop until I remember. This life I grew up with it.** "

She swallows hard, looking away from his burning gaze suddenly. " **Thank you for being so thoughtful, Imhotep** ," she rasps, her Jane stunned by the words.

Imhotep gives a single, sharp nod. " **Anything for you** ," he swears. Then he smiles, and her heart does a stupid little flutter with how seemingly sweet it is, " **Are you allergic to dogs, My Lover?** "

" **No.** " It is straight forward and she looks. . . excited. It makes Imhotep curious to when she last had a pet, and if she would ever open up to him about these past lives she held in her beautiful mind and soul.

He turns and leaves. Imhotep tries to give the kitten off to others without force, knowing Darcy would be displeased with him, but no one would take the damn thing. He is stuck with the feline, so he sets up a corner for her in the apartment, calling her Miut when he must. He makes sure to never let her touch him when he goes out to see Darcy.

It is less eventful buying a Saluki for Darcy, along with toys, food, and several items he will need. She is happy to have him, naming him Tut right away. The dog takes to it easily, and Imhotep is left to stand and watch as the woman he loves fawns over the dog with her friends.

Thor takes up a stance next to him, arms crossed and gaze unreadable. It unsettled Imhotep to see the typically open alien male pensive.

"Lady Darcy may never love you, or admit to it. She tries hard to distance herself from her pasts and the things she once did." Thor says. "But I believe you have very much won not only some of her favor, but the others as well." He smirks a little, eyes flinty, "Well, not Lady Natasha's or mine, but that is expected when I have claimed Lady Darcy as my sister just as Lady Natasha has."

" **I suppose this is when you threaten me with the proverbial shovel.** "

"Oh, even better, _creature_." Thor chuckles, and Imhotep feels his skin ripple with the threat in the words. "The Medjai will no longer have a _creature_ to look out for. I will make sure there will be nothing left of you to be received by the 42 Judges in the After Life if I see Lady Darcy has ever so much as looked wet-eyed over you."

Thor drops his arms and strides forward to meet the dog. Imhotep stares after him, then looks to Darcy when he feels her eyes on him. She smiles at him, tentatively, and looks away.

  
Imhotep grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #I HAVE ZERO SHAME FOR THAT TITLE  
> #NOPE NO SHAME  
> #MAUISSE WRITES  
> #DARCY X IMHOTEP  
> #DARCY SU NAMUN  
> #MCU X-OVER  
> #THE MUMMY X-OVER  
> #AYYYYYYYYE  
> #SO THE DOG BEING NAMED TUT IS A REFERENCE TO TUTENSTEIN FROM MY DISCOVERY KIDS DAYS  
> #YES I AM A FUCKING CHILD  
> #AND YES I LIKE TO THINK DARCY WATCHED DISCOVERY KIDS  
> #FIGHT ME  
> #A MIUT IS WHAT PEOPLE IN EGYPT APPARENTLY ONCE CALLED FEMALE CATS (AND LITTLE GIRLS)  
> #MIU WAS BOYS  
> #AND IT MEANS HE OR SHE WHO MEWS  
> #VERY FEW PEOPLE NAMED CATS APPRENTLY  
> #AND DIDNT CARE WHETHER THE CAT WAS STRAY OR DOMESTIC  
> #THEY WORSHIPPED THEM 24/7  
> #A ROMAN SOLDIER ONCE ACCIDENTLY KILLED A CAT AND A MOB KILLED HIM EVEN AS THE PHAROAH TRIED TO EXPLAIN IT WAS AN ACCIDENT  
> #WHICH IS CRAY CRAY MAN  
> #AND YES IMHOTEP TOTALLY SCORED SOME BROWNIE POINT  
> #ALSO THOR IS VERY AWARE THAT KILLING IMHOTEP WOULD BE HARD IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE  
> #BUT HE'S A VERY PROTECTIVE MAN AND LIGHTNING AND SAND DON'T MIX WELL  
> #HE ALSO HAS ALL THE AVENGERS AND THEIR PEOPLE TO BACK HIM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
> #AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS CAT LIKE IMHOTEP  
> #I JUST KNOW THAT IT ONLY LIKES HIM AND DARCY AND ALL OF DARCY'S PEOPLE  
> #SO MAYBE A GIFT OF PROTECTION FROM THE GODDESS ISIS???  
> #LIKE A BLESSING FOR THEM TO FINALLY HAVE A HAPPY ENDING??  
> #IDEK MAN


	4. If Only You Could See (the Beast You've Made Of Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha, didn't think I'd ever write smut. But here we are. Enjoy.

Imhotep is knelt at Darcy’s feet, nuzzling her thigh as her soft, long fingers run through his sort, curling hair. He preens into her touch, wishing to slide his hands up her long, soft legs and under her skirt, sliding into her underwear. But she’s strictly told him no.

It doesn’t stop him from wanting more. From wanting to see her indifferent gaze flush and her pretty red mouth pop open in ecstasy. It’s all he ever wanted from Darcy.

“ **Ah!** ” She barks, Egyptian harsh, with a tug to his hair, and he realizes he’s wrapped a hand around her calf. “ **I didn’t say you could touch me.** ”

“ **Forgive me, My Lover.** ” Imhotep’s hand draws away slowly, mourning the loss.

Her indifferent gaze heats a fraction, smirk curling her lips. If he hadn’t known her for so many years, seen her in bodies suddenly ill-fitting her (though not this one, her settled into the body with intent to stay), he wouldn’t recognize it for the predatory smile that it is.

“ **I don’t think you meant that** ,” she murmurs, and a shiver runs down his spine. “ **You were a bad boy, and bad boys are punished.** ”

He licks his lips, anticipation crawling across his skin. He wants to touch her again, see what kind of punishment he’ll garner from that.

“ **Take off my underwear.** ” Her voice is imperious, carrying no room for options. A wicked gleam enters her gaze and Imhotep feels very taken with the urge to find what else is wicked about her. “ **With your teeth. No hands, or I’m going home.** ”

Imhotep follows her orders as her hand slides from his hair, leaving him feeling bereft. He ducks his head under her skirt, pleased with how loose it is. The reincarnated priest swallows, able to see the damp spot she’d already procured from him simply nuzzling her thigh, nipping through the heavy cotton to the tender flesh beneath.

“ **My Lady** ,” he breaths against the wet patch. Imhotep takes satisfaction out of watching her muscles quiver. Then he’s tilting his head, carefully pulling at the silly fabric clinging to the upper thigh. He pulls it down slowly, chin dragging along her cool flesh, listening to the quiet shhf of cotton against silk.

Her knees tilt inward as the cloth nears and it loses all grip. The pink silk falls to the floor. Imhotep pulls his head back, ducking from under her skirt. He looks at her again, resting his chin on her thigh, begging with his eyes to touch her with his hands, to lick every inch of her skin, to worship her now as he’s always sworn to.

Darcy was always called merciful by her friends. Darcy is never so benevolent with him.

“ **Beg for it.** ”

Her chin tilts, just enough to barely look down her nose at him.

“ **Please.** ” He doesn’t hesitate. Imhotep sounds like a broken man, walking for days in the desert with no water and shown an oasis by a goddess. Darcy is that goddess and oasis. “ **Please, My Lover. Let me partake of you. Let me know paradise again.** ”

A burning backlights the blue of her eyes. He stares, begging and asking. His fingers flex against the floor. He prayed to all who would listen that she’d say–

“ **Hm, I guess.** ”

The words, said so flippantly, like nothing concerning him or the world mattered, sent him careening from his thoughts. His shoulders jump, already moving to touch an ankle, to slide nimble fingers up the smooth skin on the back of her leg, to press his face to her center and drink of her essence.

“ **But you can’t use your hands.** ”

Imhotep’s hands slam to the floor with the sound of warm flesh against cool wood. A shudder runs through him. He takes a consoling breath.

Imhotep bends, kissing her ankle. He is slow, leaving open mouth kisses, showering affection as he goes. He works his way up, suckling at her inner thigh. He drags his teeth over the wet spot, soothing it with his tongue. He can hear Darcy’s breath catch, like it had long ago in another life when he’d done that.

“ **Ah, My Lover…** ”

Repeating the process from ankle to inner thigh on her right, he listens to her breathy sighs and little hitches. Like a cat, Imhotep licks up her inner thigh.

Nuzzling her folds with his nose, he smells her heady scent. He takes a lick of her slick, breathing deep in anticipation before putting his mouth to her. He licks at her, sucking her folds and rolling the small nub above her with his tongue. He burrows his face in, finds his home among her twitching thighs and mewls and quiet cries. Imhotep’s own moans and pants are kept quiet, taking in as much of Darcy as he could without breathing.

“ **A–aah~** ”

Darcy’s knee jerks, pink painted toes curling into the wood. She throws her left, weaker leg over his shoulder and leans forward a fraction. He grins into her, sucking stronger, dragging the flat of his tongue longer, drawing out his lover’s pleasure. He would make her forget all sense, bring her to a pile of lust and wanton need before him, so close for him kiss her scarlet lips and show her what power and salvation taste like after his fill of it.

Her hands pull up her skirt, fingers burying in his hair to find purchase. She twitches against him, pressing marginally closer which urges him further.

“ **Imhotep, hm, good boy**.” She breaths. If she spoke that way more, he might never let her leave their bed. She’d never have to want for a thing. “ **Ke–keep going.** ”

Imhotep tilts his head a fraction as her fingers pull his hair, yanking a deep, satisfied groan from him. Then he very carefully drags his bottom teeth up her folds.

Darcy yelps and somehow sighs at once. Her warm, sticky fluids covers his cheeks and he drink greedily of what he can before she pushes him away. He lands roughly on his backside, grinning with all teeth, face undoubtedly covered in her. He can even feel slick against his throat, so slowly cooling.

He lifts a hand, swiping along the slick at his throat and along his cheeks, careful and slow, bringing it to his mouth to taste. His eyes never leave hers, a carnal satisfaction settling deep in him at her seemingly stunned gaze. Then she’s pulling off her skirt and getting on her knees. But not to appease him. Never would she.

Darcy reaches forward, unbuttoning his shirt with deft knowledge. She pushes the cotton off his shoulders and he throws it away, watches her carefully peel off her t-shirt. Their eyes never move from the other. He craves to be able to touch her, feels like he’s dying without it.

“ **Kiss me** ,” she orders, lounging back. “However you wish to. But only on my mouth.”

“ **May I touch you, My Lover?** ”

She deliberates a moment, hand held up to stop any forward movement he could make. With a casual shrug, one that reminds him of the rolling gait of a panther, she nods. “ **Go ahead.** ”

Without a clue where to start, he cups her face as he slides over her, but does not kiss her. He feels blessed to be able to feel the baby soft skin of her, to be in such a moment without the threat of being found. Imhotep sighs against her lips, soaks in the beauty of them, then descends.

The kiss is rough. He forces his way into the kiss, let’s her try to force him back. He hears the moan in her throat when she gets a taste of herself within his mouth. He rolls his hips, the rough denim rubbing against the tenderness of her conjuncture, knowing they’d have a wet patch soon enough.

He wanted desperately to remove the last barrier between them but Imhotep wouldn’t dare remove his clothes without her order. If he was ordered to not touch her again he might go mad with need.

“ **My Lover** ,” he pants against her throat, careful to not let his lips touch her skin. “ **May I remove my pants?** ”

Darcy hums, head tilted back. She listens to his soft sounds of need, listens to the rushed pattering of her heart. Then her lips curve up into a smile. “ **Yes. But be slow, be gentle. We have time.** ”

He whines against her throat. “ **My Lover…** ”

“ **Tsk, tsk. Don’t make me change my mind, Imhotep.** ”

Imhotep struggles for a moment, then caves. He somehow removes his jeans while managing to still kiss her, listening to her gasps and moans under him, taking deep satisfaction in his ability to do that to her.

“ **Do not touch me on my place with yours** ,” Darcy rips her lips from his to say. There’s a gleam in her eyes. It riles deep within Imhotep’s soul. “ **You have to wait.** ”

“ **Yes, My Lover.** ”

Darcy grins. She lifts a hand, forcing him to sit back. “ **Stay as still as you can. Little moves are allowed. But do not touch my hair.** ”

He’s curious for a moment, wandering what she has planned. Then sees her kneel before him. He flushes a fraction, reaches to stop her. While Imhotep would love for her to do that, he didn’t want it when his focus for the evening was her!

“ **My Lover–!** ”

“ **Shhh!** ” She cuts him off with a finger to his lips. Her smile is wide, mischief in her blue eyes sparkling with the knowledge of a thousand lifetimes and a billion pranks. It steals his breath away. “Let me do this. It is what I want. Just–” she reaches out, dragging her blunt nails down the soft inside of his thigh. He jerks, exhaling at the prickling pleasure. “ **Just do not cum until I say.** ”

Shaking with need, he nods. “ **As you wish.** ”

Darcy laughs at the reference. Then wraps a hand around the base of his cock. A shuddering breath leaves Imhotep, closing his eyes to better will away the urge to have her climb his face instead, to let her rock against his tongue, to taste her gush into his mouth again. He wants to pin her down and roll his hip against her, to make her break and scream his name, claw at his back until he bleeds, to beg for more and more and more. But he cannot.

“ **My Lover** ,” he pants, voice hoarse suddenly. He reaches out, touching her hair against orders. Before Darcy can yank back, he murmurs, “ **I love you.** ”

Darcy springs awake, gasping for air, body flushed and feeling suddenly deprived of the best sex she’d had in a few millennia. She grits her teeth, ignoring the way Tut lifts his head from his dog bed by her door. Then she throws back the blankets, clambering from bed on shaky legs. She heads into the bathroom, reaching into the shower to turn on the full spray. She strips quick, stepping under the icy spray with a sigh of satisfaction.

The reincarnated queen washes her hair until it squeaks and scrubs her body until it’s red, shivering under the cold but the urge to track Imhotep down and fuck his brains out thoroughly killed. She turns the dial until the water warms. Slowly, she settles herself on the floor of the shower, tugging her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Darcy drops her forehead to her knees, breathing slowly to keep the images away. She’d never gotten to have real sex with Imhotep when she was Anck-su-namun. The body paint made it impossible. But he’d been pretty adamant about at least kissing her, saying their souls were already entwined and so sex didn’t matter. When she was forcefully reincarnated by Meena, they’d shared a handful of kisses then, all quick and harsh and (from her end) loveless. While she’d been a jumbled mess and wanted to move on during that time, it had also felt that Imhotep had wanted power more than her. Now Darcy knew it had been different, that Imhotep really had wanted all that power for her– convinced it would please her, because it’s what Meena wanted– and now she didn’t want power and she constantly told herself she didn’t want him.

The former may be true but the latter was a lie. Both of them knew it, her friends knew, Tut knew it. The goddamned gods knew it too. Darcy would bet anything the gods were laughing at her and whatever they had planned, because Darcy doubted any of this would end well.

Her mind brings up repressed memories. She recalls Ammit, with her face of a crocodile and upper body of a lion and lower hind of a hippopotamus, snarling at her, eyeing her heart on the Scales. Of Anubis, tall and black and head showing sharp fangs, picking her off the Path. The way she was thrown away like a worthless doll, reborn into a body she didn’t know. But that happened years ago, because her heart weighed even with the Feather.

“UGH!” Darcy grips her knees, shrieking into them.

First she has a wet dream, then she has to think about why that is, and now she has to think about how this all started because she didn’t lead a completely good or bad life.

“Why couldn’t I have been a boring consort?” She thinks aloud.

She nearly screams when she hears Natasha speak.

“Because then you would not be here with such good friends.”

Darcy rips aside the curtain, just enough to look around. She glares at the spysassin, who sits on the toilet, ankle on her knee, checking her nails. Natasha raises an eyebrow.

“Have a good dream, Сестра?” She asks kindly.

Darcy narrows her eyes. “I feel like you already know that answer.”

“You talk in your sleep.”

“Oh, fuck,” Darcy hides her face behind the curtain. “Kill me now, Nat. Please.”

“No, thank you. I like you.” Natasha sets down her leg, leaning closer. “Now, tell me. What is so wrong about lusting after this man? He seems to have turned over a new leaf for you.”

Darcy’s head snaps up, blinking at Natasha like she’d lost her mind. “Are you insane?” Her voice lifts a few notes. “I don’t exactly know him this life, but the last three times he killed people for me. He’d still kill for me. And I don’t want that anymore. I don’t want that power.”

“Сестра,” Natasha says, look blank, “you seem to not realize that every one of us in this tower would kill for you. Jane, Thor, and Imhotep are only the tip of the iceberg.”

“But you know better!” She cries. “He’d kill without blinking if I looked even the slightest distressed! He’d do whatever I said and not feel a speck of remorse for who got hurt and that terrifies me.” Her teeth dig into her bottom lip, eyes skittering away. Her voice becomes much quieter. “Out of all the things I was taught by living so many lifetimes, the fact I don’t need any power to be feared or to kill to be seen as strong is what I learned best. And I want him to realize that too. I want him to know he doesn’t need to listen to me or kill for me or be… be other.”

“So it’s not a matter of wanting him, it’s a matter of him not choosing to be who he could be without you?” Natasha asks. “Because that seems to be it. You know who you are and what you want, but he doesn’t and that unsettles you.”

Darcy isn’t sure it’s right, but it feels and sounds it to her. No matter what her dream was, she didn’t feel really comfortable after it. Ordering him around like that, him being so submissive, had scared her. It was too much of her when she was still a young soul denied her own choices. It’s another reason she’d jumped in the shower so fast.

“Yeah,” Darcy murmurs. “I think if he found himself first, I might be more willing to– to let him court me.” She looks up at Natasha. “That’s what he’s been doing by giving me Tut and bringing me things and making me dinner. Showing he could care for me as a husband.”

“Do you want him as a husband?”

The question makes a little ball of warmth curl in her chest. Her cheeks warm a little. “When I was Anck-su-namun, I did. But right now, no. I don’t. I don’t know if I ever will again.”

“Okay.”

Natasha stands up. Darcy stares.

“You should get out before you prune.”

As she leaves, Darcy scrambles up.

“Wait! That’s it? You asked me all that just to say ‘okay’?”

Natasha stops at the doorway. “Yes. I know Imhotep’s intentions. What I needed was what you thought. I needed to know whether to help him pursue you or tell him to back off.” Darcy’s mouth drops open. “Since I know now, I can tell him to back off.”

Natasha leaves. Darcy scrambles for a towel, trying to turn the shower off and not trip all at the same time.

“N-Natasha! Wait!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #SO THIS IS A THING  
> #NSFW  
> #DARCY LEWIS  
> #DARCY SU NAMUN  
> #DARCY X IMHOTEP  
> #MCU X OVER  
> #THE MUMMY X OVER  
> #MCU X-OVER  
> #THE MUMMY X-OVER  
> #SO YEAH I DID WRITE THIS AND I ALSO WASNT SURE ABOUT POSTING  
> #BUT LOOKIE HERE I DID!!  
> #ONCE YOU WRITE SMUT FOR THE PAIRING THERES NO GOING BACK  
> #IVE NEVER HAD SEX AND I'M ACE YET I THINK THIS IS PRETTY GOOD SMUT????  
> #HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN  
> #MAUISSE WRITES  
> #MAUISSE RAMBLES  
> #GOD SAVE ME  
> #SMUT


End file.
